Who would pay Henry's transfer fee?

If only Photoshop ruled the soccer world.

That's the question raised by Greg Daurio in this 90:00 soccer story.

He doesn't argue that Joe Roth or Paul Allen couldn't easily afford the fee, just that in the past MLS has been the receiver of fees paid for players the league sells off. If it works both ways, then...

"MLS controls all player contracts. Up until recently, the league kept the vast majority of transfer fees received when players left (and they still get a percentage of that money), so it stands to reason that the league also pays the transfer fees for players coming into the league. Keep this in mind as well. David Beckham arrived on a free transfer from Real Madrid last year because his contract had run out.

Juan Pablo Angel also was a free transfer because Aston Villa had agreed to let him out of the remainder of his contract. The league doesn’t exactly have a history of paying extraordinary transfer fees for players, and with it’s slow and steady approach to it’s financial decisions, it seems unlikely that the league would shell out the tens of millions of dollars that Barcelona would most likely command for Henry."